Rotor brake actuating mechanism



C. E. TACK ETAL ROTOR BRAKE ACTUATING MECHANISM Nov. 11, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 16, 1953 %FW%$ Z OP 6? Nov. 11,1958 c. EI'TACK ETAL 2,859,838

I ROTOR BRAKE ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed June 16, 1953 S SheetS-Sheet 2 Nov. 11, 1958 c.-E. TACK EI'AL' ROTOR BRAKE ACTUATING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 16, 1953 I 2;ss9;sss v v Boron- BRAKE. ACTUATING MEGH'ANISM Qalil, E, Tack, Chicago, and 'EredjEfBachman and G tQlZg e W; Crabjtree; Granite City; Ill., .assignors toAmerican Tteel"FoundriesfChicagog 111., acorporation of-New -Jersey a Application June 16', 1953, Serial 362,959

- 9 Claims. (c1. 188-59) I inventionrelates to a brake arrangementifora railway car truck and more particularly to a novel actuating arrangement therefor;

'It is an object of theunvention to provide afrailway freight car truck with as novel; brake arrangement;

It isajfurther objectfoftheiinvention to provide a railway freight car truck with a novel-brake arrangement and actuating linkage incorporated in a rotor. brake,

It is aflfurther object of the invention to incorporate either bolster mounted, or body mounted air actuating cylinders with the mentioned novel rotor brake. I

' It is a different object of the invention to "proyidet a.

brake. for a freight car truck wherein the brake-levers andfshoes are carried byabolster.

i '-It isa further object of the invention. toaincorporiit e m u l c a i g a with the novel rotor brake asabove'idescribed,

" Thesean'd: other objects of the invention will become apparent inthencourse. of the following description and from an. examination. of the drawings, wherein; j

. Figure L is a:. plan view of. a truck incorporatingthe invention, only one half of the truck being tshown it being understood thatthe, illustrated structure is: duplicated in theothen-halfj j Fi gureHZ is a fragmentary sectional. View taken along Figure 3; is a'fragmentary sectional viewtaken along line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a different embodiment, of the invention;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary-plan View of a differentembodiment of the, invention and Figure 6 is. a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown; injEigure 5 and; taken along'line. 6-6 of Figure 5..

Describing theinventionuin: detail, a railway car truck indicated generally by. the numeral 10 is illustrated; in phantom lines in-Eigure -l., The truck: employed in Figures; Into 4 is, preferably. of a conventional; type wherein the-bolster. is. nonresiliently supported from at side frame whileitheyframe itselfxis resiliently: mounted: and snubbed on thesjournal boxesofi associatedl wheel and axleassem- 'bliest Thistype of. trucki'iswell known tozthose skilled in the art:

Thetruck 10 comprises a side frame 1:2and bolster: 14 which. extends transversely of the truck; A-s noted 'opposite ends of the sideframe are resiliently supported g from wheel and axle assemblies generally indicated at 16. Adjacent a Wheel of each assembly 16 a brake disk or T0tor-18'is fixedly-secured to said assembly'andi's rotatable therewith. Friction faces 20; 20 are presented byopposite-sides of the rotor 18.

Rigidly secured. to the bolster 14 insubstantial longijtudinal alignment with the rotor l'8are two pairs of vertically spaced mounting lugs 22', 22, the outboard pairs of lugs= offering pivotal mountingfor an out-boardlink- 24 while. the inboardi pair of lugs otter-pivotal mounting for an inboard l nk 26;

Thus theoutboard and inboard links pivotabout'yertical axes determined by thepin' connection of" saidli'nks to therespective pairs of lugs 22. It willbe noted that'the inboard link 26 has abutments oppositesides thereof, said abutments being engageable with adjacent abutments. on the bolster whereby pivotal movement of saidinboard link is positively limited.

A generall y L'. or bell' crank "shaped-brake shoerassem- .bl'yg carrying member 32 comprising integrally formed lirak'e. and. actuator arms 36' and '38, respectively, is pivoured to the arm. The arm 38. extends from the link 2 4" in .a plane parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the bolsterand substantiallynormal to. the plane of the friction surfaces 20 to a point whereat it is pivotallyconnected to theextnemity of the inboard link 26' by a pin 42. Thusit willbe seen that the links 24and 26, actuator arm 38 and the bolster 14tform aparallelogram linkage limitedly' 25 is always maintained normal to thesurfaces 20- of the pivotal about; axes-fixed to the bolster whereby arm 38 rotor- 1Y8v-andi parallel tto the. longitudinal axis of the bolster. j s As best seen; in Figures 1 and 3, another brake shoe assembly'carrying member 44 preferably in the form of a bel1.;cr -ankcomprising; integrally formed brake and ae- .tuator ar-pr s 48 and 46, respectively, is pivotally coni nected-at the point of juncture of itsvarmsito the parallelograrn. link-age for movement in a horizontal plane: about they common; vertical pivotal axis 42. A brake shoeassembly 5 0 ist pivotally'mounted to the extremity-of, the brake; arm 48rand1isengageable with the related friction surface 2lleofj'the rotor 18; A guide 52 isfixeduto the brakevshoe; 50 and extends therefrom to overlie: the; arm

'3.&'and'. to; depend; adjacent the face ofxthe arm remote from: the. rotor 18. In. this position the. guide restrains counterclockwise rotation of the pivotally mounted brake shoe assembly; 50: during application of the shoe to the rotor;, Thus the, center ofpres'sure of the shoe assembly 50:v is maintained-centrally of the. shoe where-by even shoe wear results:

The free end of the actuating arm 46 (Figure l) of the bell crank 4:4 is. pivotally: attached toone end of a live actuating lever 56 as at 57. It will also be seen that a ledgeior shelfrS-S-(presented by the bolster 14 offers-sliding support for the inboard end of the lever 46. The oppqsite-endiof'the lever 56 is pivotally connected as at- 60 to. onenend ofia pull rod" 62 which in turn overlies the bolsteri'14ito a point whereat its-opposite endis pivotalliy connected asat 6-1 to-an end of a dead lever 64; said dead lever being-pivotallymounted to the bolster 14-by means of= fixedly secured-mounting extension 67-. S'pa'ce'd guide Inge-663'. 6'6 embrace 1 and-guide the pull rod- 62 during the action hereinafter explained.

The opposite end of-the dead lever-64 B link'c-orinected toiinb'oard 'end of anotherbell crank 44::- Whichformsja part ofi a double braking system (not shown) identical with-that illustrated'only in the other half of the truck.

Referring'again to the live lever56 it will be seen thatsaitl leverghas pivotally" connected thereto intermediate its endsamain pull rod 70, said main pull" rod being-mechanically connected to-an operating air cylinder '(notshown) which may be conventionally mounted to an associatedcar'body (not shown) as is well understood by those skilledin the art.

A release spring 72 hasone end connected" to the bols'ter 14 as at 74 and has its opposite end connected to the lever 46 of the bell crank 44 as at 76. It will be noted that said release spring is positioned to exert pressure along a line spaced from the axisof pivot 42 of the bell crank 44 whereby said spring urges said crank to rotate in a counterclockwise or release direction and that the line of pressure of said spring is also angularly related to the plane of therotor 18 and diagonallyfacross the linkage'parallelogr'am whereby said'parallelogram is urged to move clockwise about the pivotal axes thereof fixed to the bolster consequently in a release direction.

To operate the braking system the main pull rod is moved to the right which results in movement of the dead lever 64 counterclockwise about its fixed pivot, in turn h wise about the pivot 60 in turn urging the bell crank 44 clockwise about the pivot 42 thus bringing the shoe 5 0 into engagement with the related" face 20 of'the rotor'18. The reactive force of the shoe 50 against therotor 18 causes the linkage parallelogram to pivot inboardly of the truck against the tension of spring 72 thus bringing the shoe 40 into engagement with the related surface 20 of the'rotor 18. In this connection it should be noted that the 3 linkage parallelogram always maintains the actuator arm 38 and brake arm 36 of member 32in a fixed relation to the rotor 18, whereby the shoe is always parallel to the related surface 20, hence the shoe is brought into flat face engagement with said surface 20 assuring even wear.

Directing attention to Figure 4, it will be seen that 'Each cylinder 82 serves to actuate one of the' brake arrangements of the truck, though not shown suitable apertures are provided in the bolster 14 to accommodate this construction. -It should also be noted that the linkage parallelogram mounting arrangement during brake application serves to accommodate movement laterally of the truck of thebolster relative to the axle assembly or the axle assembly relative to the bolster.

A pull rod 84 is pivotally connected to the live lever 56 intermediate the ends thereof as at 86. In this embodi ment the rod 84 is mechanically connected to a hand brake (not shown) whereby both brake arrangements may be manually actuated.

Attention is now directed to Figures 5 and 6, wherein is illustrated another embodiment of the disclosed invention as applied to a conventional railway car truck having a side frame 90 which presents a spring seat 92 to receive a seat springs 94 which in turn flexibly carry a vertically movable bolster 96. A housing indicated generally at 98 is fixedly secured to the bolster 96 in the arms 46' of the bell cranks 44 and 44a have been an area longitudinally aligned with the rotor 18. Said housing 98 comprises vertically spaced plates 100 and 102 interconnected centrally thereof by a vertical plate 103. The plates 100 and 102 at their extremity remote from the bolster 96 present semicylindrical bores 104 and 106, respectively, said bores extending transversely of the truck and arranged to have the axes thereof perpendicular to the plane of the rotor 18. A generally bell crank shaped shoe carrying member indicated generally at 108 comprises a brake arm 110 extending along the side of the rotor 18 and carrying on one end thereof a brake shoe assembly 112, said brake shoe assembly 112 being nonpivotally but demountably secured to the end of the brake arm 110. Additionally, the member 108 comprises vertically spaced generally cylindrical bars 114, 114, said bars 114 being welded to the arm 110 on the top and bottom sides thereof. The bars 114 are slidably received within the cylindrical bores 104 and 106 of the housing and extend therethrough to 'a point inboardly of the inside edge of said housing. At said point inboardly of the housing the bars 114 present vertically aligned pin holes to serve as a pivotal mounting for a bell crank indicated generally at 118, the bell crank 118 comprising a brake arm 120 carryingon its end thereof a pivotally'mounted brake shoe assembly 122 which is engageable with the related face 20 of the rotor 18. Additionally, the bell crank 118 comprises an actuating arm 124 angularly related to' the brake arm 120, said bell crank 118 beingpivotally mounted to the cylindrical bars 114 at the juncture of the actuating arm 124 and the brake arm 120 by means of the pivotal pin 126.

As in a previous embodiment a live brake lever 128 is pivotally connected to the inboard extremity of the actuating. lever 124 as at 130. The opposite end of the live brakefl'ever 128 is pivotally connected to a pullrod 130 as at 132, said pull rod serving the function of interconnecting the brake mechanism shown with another and identical brake mechanism on the opposite side of the truck (not shown),much the same as was done in the embodiment heretofore described. An actuating rod 134 'is pivotally connected to the live brake lever 128 intermediate the ends of the latter as at 136 and extends longitudinally of the truck to a point whereat it is conventionally connected to a brake actuating cylinder (not shown) as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

A brake shoe assembly guide 136 is fixedly secured to the pivotal brake shoe assembly 122 and presents a slotted portion 138 which receives a guide lug 140 which in turn is rigidly connected to the housing 100 at a point intermediate said housing and the adjacent rotor 118. The guide 136 and the lug 140 cooperate to maintain the pivotally mounted brake shoe assembly 122 in proper relation for full face fiat engagement with the associated rotor surface 20 during the action hereinafter described.

In operation, the actuating rod 134 is moved to the right as seen in Figure 5, whereupon the pull rod 130 is also carried to the right thus actuating the linkage and the braking device in the nonillustrated portion of the truck. Virtually simultaneously the brake lever 128 is caused, by movement of the rod 134, to pivot about the point 132 thus moving the bell crank 118 through the actuating arm connection 130 in a clockwise direction and pivoting the brake shoe assembly 122 into engagement with the associated surface 20 of the rotor 18. As the carried brake shoe assembly 122 engages the rotor, a reactive force is set up urging the bell crank to concurrently pivot about the shoe assembly pivot 135, 'whereupon the bars 114 of the shoe carrying member 108 are carried transversely of the truck and the brake arm 110 and carried brake shoe assembly 112 are brought linearly into engagement with the associated surface of the rotor 18. Thus it will be seen that again the brake shoe assemblies 112 and 122 are urged to embrace and frictionally engage the rotor 18, the assembly 112 acting in response to the engagement of the rotor by the assembly 122 by means of the pivotal connection between the shoe carrying members 108 and 118.

It should also be noted that the slide arrangement of the bars 114, 114 in the bores 104 and 106 serves to accommodate relative lateral movement between the bolster and axles assembly during brake application.

Upon release of the actuating rod 124 it will readily be understood that the release spring 141, which has one end fixedly connected to the bolster as at 142 and the other end fixedly connected to the actuating lever 124, as at 143, will cause the bell crank 118 to pivot once again about the pivot pin 126 whereby the brake shoe assembly 122 is urged to disengage the related rotor surface. Action of the spring 141 also has a tendency to urge the shoe 5. carrying members 118 and 108 to. move transversely. and outboardly of the truck, thereby urgingathe member 108 and the carried brake shoe assembly 112 to-disengage from therelated rotor surface 20. However, .to aid in ,the disengagement offthemember 108 it will be seen that an auxiliaryrrelease spring 146 is provided, said auxiliary releasetspring'ibeing compressively' disposed intermediate the. plate .103 and a lug 148.-which is integrally'formed or rigidly connected to the member 108; and: disposed to extend intermediate the-member and theassociated bolster 96:- Thus. upon release of the actuating rod 134 the spring 141' pivots the bell-crank 118l.outof:engagement with the. associated rotor surface-and the auxiliary spring 14.61 cooperating with. the action of the spring t ll/urges the member108v linearly outboardly of the truck and out of engagement with the associated rotor surface 20.

We claim:

-1. -In a brake arrangementfor a railway car truck havin spaced wheel and axle assemblies, side frames supported therefrom and a bolster supported from the frames;-th'e combination of at least one rotor connected to each assembly and rota-table therewith, pairs of brake shoes disposed on opposite sides of and engageable with the rotors of the respective assemblies, a pair; of bell cranks associated with each pair or brake shoes, each of said cranks including a brake arm connected to a related 'brakes'hee, the brake arm of one of said cranksbeing rigidly connected to its related shoe, the arm of the other crank being pivotally connected to its related shoe, each of said cranks having an actuator arm angularly related to its brake arm, a pair of links, having correspondingends pivoted to the bolster and having opposite corresponding ends pivoted to opposite ends of the actuator arm of said one crank to form a linkage parallelogram between the bolster, links, and last mentioned actuator arm, wherein the last mentioned actuator arm is movable along a line parallel to the rotational axis of the related rotor, the actuator arm of the other crank being pivoted at one end to the actuator arm of said one crank and to one of said links by a common pivot, a live lever pivoted to the other end of the actuator arm of said other crank, a dead lever connected to a corresponding end of the corresponding crank in the other pair of cranks associated with the rotor of the other assembly, a rod interconnecting the live and dead levers, and actuating means connected to the live lever and operable to urge each linkage parallelogram to move its related brake shoes into engagement with its related rotor.

2. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a rotatable brake disk, brake shoes on opposite sides of said disk engageable therewith, bell crank shaped members supporting said shoes, one of said members being pivotally secured to the related shoe and the other of said members being nonpivotally fixed to the related shoe, means to mount said members on the truck comprising spaced links having corresponding ends pivoted to the truck on axes fixed relative thereto, said other member interconnecting the ends opposite the mentioned ends of said links to maintain said links in a parallel relationship during movement thereof about said fixed axes, abutment means to limit pivotal movement of said links about said fixed axes, said one member being pivotally connected to one of said links on an axis common to said other members connection to said one link, and means to urge said bell cranks to move the supported shoes into engagement with said disk.

3. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a bolster and a wheel and axle assembly, the combination of a rotor connected to the assembly, brake shoes embracing the rotor and engageable therewith, and a linkage parallelogram support comprising a pair of shoe moving members each having a pair of integrally formed brake and actuator arms angularly related to each other, the brake arm of one member being rigidly connected to one shoe and the brake arm of the other member being having corresponding. ends pivotally connectedltoxopposite. ends of'the actuator arm of said one member and having opposite corresponding ends pivotally connected to the bolster, the actuator arm of said other member being pivoted to the actuator arm of said one member andto one of said linksby a common pivot, said last mentioned arm being movable in a direction normal to the rotational plane of said:rotor, .and means to effect the. lineal movement of said one member and the pivotal movement of the other member to cause the members to move their related shoes into engagement with the rotor.

4. In a brake arrangementfor a railway car truck having a bolster and a wheel and axle assembly, the combinationof a rotor connected to. the assembly, a pair of brake shoes engageable with opposite sides of the rotor, a parallelogram support, a pair. of links having correspondiug ends pivotedatot the bolster, a pair of shoe moving members each having integrally formed brake and actuator arms angularly related to each other, one of said -members having. its brake; arm rigidly secured to one pivoted to the actuator arm, of the other memberand to one of said links bya common, pivot, the. engagement of one of said shoes; with the rotor resulting from the movement of one of said members without movement of said support and the engagement oft-he other of said shoes with the rotor resultingfrom movement of said; parallelogram support in a d irectio n normal to the rotative plane of said rotor.

5. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck including a bolster and a Wheel and axle assembly, the combination of a rotor afiixed to the assembly, a brake arm on each side of said rotor, each of said arms carrying a shoe engageable with the rotor, a link pivotally connected to each arm on an extremity thereof remote from the shoe, each of said links being pivotally mounted on the bolster, means rigid with one arm interconnecting the arms to maintain same in fixed spaced relation at the respective points of connection to the respective links, and means rigid with the other arm operatively connected to said one arm and operable to move said other arm pivotally and to move said one arm lineally thereby causing the arms to move the shoes into engagement with the rotor.

6. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a car body and frame supported from a wheel and axle assembly, the combination of a plurality of distinct friction faces on the assembly and rotatable therewith, a friction shoe engageable with each surface, means supported by the frame for movement relative thereto and operable to support said shoes, said means including a pair of links pivoted to the frame, and a pair of shoe carrying members, one of said members being a bell crank pivotally mounting its related shoe and being pivotally connected to one of the links and to the other member for pivotal movement about an axis, the position of which is movable lineally relative to the frame in a direction normal to the planes of said faces, the other of said members nonpivotally mounting its related shoe and being pivoted to said one member and both of the links and being movable lineallytin a direction normal to the planes of said faces, and actuating means operable to urge said members to move their related shoes into engagement with the related friction surfaces.

7. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a frame assembly and brake shoes engageable with friction surfaces which are rotatable when the truck is in motion, the combination of a pair of links pivoted to the assembly, brake shoe carrying members, one of said members being rigidly connected to one of said shoes and the other of said members being pivotally connected to the other of said shoes, said one member being pivotally connected to both of said links, said other member being pivotally connected to one of said links and to said one member by a common pivot, the pivotal connections between said members and said links accommodating the lineal movement of said one member relative to the frame assembly and accommodating the pivotal movement of said other members about a pivotal axis, the position of which is movable lineally relative to the frame assembly, and actuating means operable to urge said members to move their related shoes into engagement with their related friction surfaces.

8. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck-comprising a wheel and axle assembly presenting a pair of axially spaced rotatable friction surfaces and a frame supported on said assembly, the combination of: a pair of friction shoe assemblies engageable with said surfaces, a pair of generally L-shaped friction shoe assembly moving members, each of said members comprising a brake arm connected to its related friction shoe assembly and an integrally formed actuator arm angularly related to said brake arm, a pair of links having corresponding ends pivoted to said frame at points spaced from each other and having opposite corresponding ends pivotally connected to opposite ends of the actuator'arm of 'one of said members to form a linkage parallelogram between 'said frame, links and last mentioned arm wherein the actuator arm of said one member is movable along a line normal to the planes of said surfaces, the actuator arm of the other of said members being pivotally connected to one of said links and to the actuator arm ofsaid one member by a common pivot, and means to urge said members to bring said friction shoe assemblies into engagement with the respective friction surfaces.

9. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck comprising a wheel and axle assembly with axially spaced rotatable friction surfaces and a frame supported on said assembly, the combination: of a pair of friction shoes engageable with respective surfaces, a pair of shoe carrying members connected to the respective shoes, a pair of links'having corresponding ends pivoted to the frame, one of said members having a portion pivotally connected to the ends of said links remote from the frame to form a linkage parallelogram between said frame, said portion, and said links wherein said portion is movable in a direction normal to the planes of said surfaces, said other member being pivotally connected to said portion and to one of said links by a common pivot, and means to actuate said other member to urge said members tocarry the shoes into engagement with said surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,242,853 Flowers May 20, 1941 2,284,605 Eksergian et a1. May 26, 1942 2,348,078 Ledwinka May 2, 1944 2,359,806 Tack Oct. 10, 1944 2,581,746 vBaselt Jan. 8, 1952 2,667,946 Helsten Feb. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1911 

